WASHINGTON — Ahead of the Senate’s annual August recess, lawmakers are prioritizing funding the government this week to avoid a shutdown during the midterms amid a long legislative to-do list.
On Monday, the Senate took its first procedural step toward extending current funding levels through Dec. 11. The bipartisan agreement advanced overwhelmingly by a vote of 89-4. U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., both voted to move forward on the short-term funding patch.
“First off, really thrilled to see the huge bipartisan vote and moving forward with a continuing resolution that gets us through December 11,” Britt, an appropriator, told Alabama Daily News.
Unless Congress acts, the government would run out of money on Oct.1. But after two recent shutdowns, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are eager to avert that scenario, especially in an election year.
“They are incredibly painful for the American people and it’s important, in my view, that we demonstrate to the American people that we can do job one and job one is ensuring their federal government is working and funded,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said during his weekly press conference.
The Senate is expected to take a final vote on the spending measure later this week before lawmakers are set to leave for their five-week recess at the end of the week. But the Senate could stay through the weekend or longer if Republicans need more time to address their other priorities, such as confirming acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, other nominations, and the Russia sanctions bill.
“So that will also be something that between now and the end of this week, or however long we’re here, we intend to accomplish,” Thune told reporters Tuesday, referring to the spending bill.
Broadly, the bipartisan stopgap bill, unveiled Sunday, would keep funding levels flat through December while accounting for adjustments on food aid, shipbuilding and disaster relief.
“This measure gives Congress the time we need to continue our work on bipartisan appropriations bills, which are always my strong preference for handling annual government funding, ” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the top appropriator, said in a statement.
Democrats notched a win in the Senate agreement to temporarily halt a new rule that would give sweeping power to political appointees over the federal grant approval process.
“This disastrous rule would put politics above science when determining, for example, what cancer research grants to fund,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, said.
The spending measure would also prevent the Trump administration from transferring money from other accounts to fund Border Patrol, which received money through Republicans’ second party-line spending bill earlier this year.
If the Senate gives final approval to the stopgap bill this week, it faces an uncertain path in the House. The lower chamber passed its own continuing resolution in July before lawmakers left Washington for their August recess.
Only a handful of Democrats voted for the House continuing resolution last month, which would fund the government through Dec. 4. The House bill did not include a halt on the proposed rule allowing political appointees to oversee federal grants. Alabama’s House delegation split along party lines on the funding patch vote.